(About) Photograph of Major Jackson in 1851, shortly before
he left Army service. That same year, he resigned his commission and began teaching at the Virginia Military Institute.Courtesy VMI.

Stonewall Jackson at the Virginia Military Institute

"As Professor of Natural and Experimental Philosophy, Major Jackson
was not a success....His genius was in the Science and Art of War." VMI Superintendent Francis H. Smith.

From 1851 until the outbreak of Civil War, Thomas J. Jackson served as Professor
of Natural and Experimental Philosophy and Instructor of Artillery Tactics at the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, Virginia (See Civil War Army: The Confederate and Union Infantry, Cavalry, and Artillery Organizations). Natural Philosophy (in modern terms, roughly equivalent to Physics; it included
astronomy, mechanics, acoustics, optics, and other sciences), was a difficult part of the mid-nineteenth century curriculum;
many cadets found it almost impossible to master under the best of circumstances. Unfortunately, Major Jackson, as
he was known at VMI, was a mediocre teacher--although highly intelligent, he could not convey the concepts to students. This
inability, along with his humorless demeanor, soon branded Jackson as an unpopular faculty member, one who was the target
of many student pranks.

Francis H. Smith, VMI's Superintendent during Jackson's era, wrote the
following in his History of the Virginia Military Institute

"As Professor of Natural and Experimental Philosophy, Major Jackson
was not a success. He had not the qualifications needed for so important a chair. He was no teacher, and he lacked the tact
required in getting along with his classes....His genius was in the Science and Art of War. He found a field for the display
of this genius when the war opened in 1861."

On May 15, 1863, the funeral of one of the great military leaders of
the South was held in Lexington, and hundreds came to pay him tribute. In the short span of two years, 1861 to
1863, Thomas Jonathan Jackson had risen to fame in the South and had become the immortal "Stonewall." In this brief interval he had captured the respect and admiration of the people of the Confederacy and of soldiers from
both sides of the North-South conflict.

The Virginia Military Institute prizes the distinct kinship it has with
the life of Lieutenant General Jackson. It was in Lexington
that he made his home and at VMI that he spent the years before the Civil War, years of instructing cadets in the classroom
and drilling them in the field. It was at VMI that his personal qualities and code of living made such an imprint that his
influence exists to this day.

At VMI one cannot escape the memory of Stonewall Jackson nor forget
those things for which he stood. On the west side of the cadet barracks overlooking the parade ground-larger now, but still
the same ground on which Jackson drilled cadets, stands Sir Moses Ezekiel's bronze statue
of Jackson, depicting him as he surveyed his army just before the Battle of Chancellorsville. It was May 2, 1863, the day of his greatest triumph and also of the wound that
proved to be fatal (Chancellorsville Campaign and the Death of Thomas Jonathan Jackson). As Jackson looked about, he saw many former cadets and VMI associates
in command positions with the army, and his words at that moment, addressed to his cavalry leader, Colonel Thomas T. Munford,
VMI class of 1852, are inscribed upon the base of the statue: "The Institute will be heard from today."

Appropriately flanking the statue are the four six-pounder guns of the
old cadet battery used by Jackson in artillery instruction
at VMI. Near these same guns he stood at First Manassas when he won his nickname. The guns are a reminder that although Jackson
became a great exponent of the war movement, he was primarily a master artillerist.

To the rear of the Jackson
statue, across the wide road which circles the parade ground, is the principal entrance into the cadet barracks, an archway
with the words "Stonewall Jackson" lettered over it. Each time a new cadet leaves the barracks through that arch, he salutes
the statue of Jackson. Cadets entering the arch see inscribed
in bronze letters the maxima Jackson wrote in a composition book in which he made notes during his own cadet days at West
Point: "You may be whatever you resolve to be."

VMI's assembly hall is the Jackson Memorial Hall, and the Institute's
museum houses a handsome collection of Jackson memorabilia.
Among the items displayed in the museum are the uniform he wore as a member of the VMI faculty, the forage cap he wore during
the major part of the war, his field desk and camp stool, the bullet-pierced raincoat he wore the night of his accidental
wounding, and other items from his pre-war days.

Also in the museum is the mounted hide of his famed war horse, Little
Sorrel. Jackson obtained the sorrel gelding shortly after the war began and was riding him
at First Manassas when General Barnard E. Bee made the statement that gave Jackson
his lasting nickname. He rode Little Sorrel throughout the Valley campaign and was astride the little horse when he received
his fatal wound.

Thomas Jonathan Jackson was born January 21, 1824, in Clarksburg,
Virginia, now in West Virginia.
He was graduated from the UnitesStatesMilitaryAcademy at West
Point on July 1, 1846, with the commission of brevet second lieutenant of artillery. The young lieutenant immediately
reported for duty with the First Artillery and was soon assigned to Magurder's Light Battery, then serving in Mexico. Fourteen months later he had risen to the rank of
brevet major of artillery and had established his reputation as a soldier.

At this time, in the Valley
of Virginia, the Board of Visitors of the Virginia Military Institute
was considering a new appointment to its faculty, and in the school year 1850-51 the Board began an active search for a suitable
person to fill the chair of Natural and Experimental Philosophy, or physics as it is called today. It was not surprising when
associates of the young Major Jackson, who had been commended highly for bravery in the Mexican War, were quick to point out
his qualifications to the VMI Board.

In early February 1851, the superintendent of VMI, Colonel Francis H.
Smith, wrote to Major Jackson offering him the position at the Institute. Jackson at this time
was stationed with the First Regiment, U.S. Artillery, at FortMeade,
near Tampa Bay, Florida.
He accepted the appointment and reported to the Institute on August 13, 1851, in the days when cadetship at VMI was year-around.

Thomas Jonathan (Stonewall) Jackson served on the VMI Faculty as
Professor of Natural and Experimental Philosophy & Instructor of Artillery from August 1851 until the beginning of the
Civil War in April 1861.

Jackson
was twenty-seven when he came to VMI. The Institute, even younger, was only in its twelfth year, and over the next ten years
of Jackson's active faculty status they struggled and developed
together.

Recommended Viewing: Warriors of Honor(DVD). Description: It has become politically correct to cast slurs and aspersions on all things
and men who fought for the Confederacy. Is it true that both General Robert E. Lee and General "Stonewall" Jackson
fought to preserve slavery? Clearly, according to this thought-provoking DVD, it wasn't true then and isn't now, but
if enough people yell it loud enough long enough it achieves the same status as the truth. Continued below...

This documentary delves in fact, and explains most clearly the motivations
of two of the Confederacy's most brilliant and beloved Generals. It goes behind the common information and deals
with the true feelings and spiritual beliefs of the two Heroes. Highly recommended for all serious students and
buffs of the War between the States. History teachers, moreover, would be shocked by this candid, scholarly, and
informative study.

The VMI Cadets!

"Put the Boys In" by Don Troiani

(Right) The Battle of New Market* is the only occasion in American history
in which a student body has charged to victory in pitched combat.

In addition to his teaching duties at VMI, Jackson
served as instructor in artillery tactics and had an integral part on the military training of all cadets. The cadet battery,
made especially for VMI in 1848, was used by Jackson for artillery
instruction, and though mounted drill was not established at VMI until 1919, it is recorded that three months after his arrival
at the Institute he developed a plan for a battery of horsedrawn artillery.

As a professor, Jackson
was strict and often stern in his discipline. He was never a popular professor, but no faculty member possessed a higher degree
of respect from the cadets for unbending integrity and fearlessness in the discharge of one's duty. It is said "exact as the
multiplication table and full of things military as an arsenal."

From his first year at VMI, Jackson was the subject of many cadet pranks.
His ungainly appearance, strictness, and lack of humor provided fuel for "much juvenile wit & merriment." Cadets delighted
in drawing caricatures on the blackboard in Jackson's classroom--often a sketch depicting an officer with enormous feet (his
exceptionally large shoe size inspired "Square Box," one of his several nicknames; others were "Old Jack," "Tom Fool," "Old
Hickory"). Other incidents included throwing spitballs in class, making noises when his back was turned, dropping a brick
as he passed underneath a barracks window, and pulling linchpins from cannon wheels during artillery drill.

Jackson
was exacting in demands he made upon the cadets, and no less so in demands made upon himself.

A popular Jackson
story at VMI is that of an incident that typified the character of the young officer. The story concerns an appointment between
Jackson and the VMI superintendent who had advised the major that he wanted to see him in his office. Jackson
arrived at the precise hour of the appointment, but the superintendent, remembering something he had to do, asked Jackson to be seated and to remain until he returned. Detained longer
on his errand than he had anticipated, the superintendent remembered quite late that Major Jackson was waiting, but he presumed
Jackson had waited a reasonable time and then gone home. Coming
into his office the next morning, the superintendent found Jackson
still waiting, sitting upright in the same chair where he had been seated the evening before. Jackson had interpreted the superintendent's polite request that he remain seated as an order-and
Major Jackson never disobeyed an order.

Jackson
was a man of perfect truth and sincerity, and so sensitive about misrepresentation that it is told he walked a mile and a
half through rain one night to correct a statement about an incident which had occurred between two cadets. He had represented
the incident as taking place on the lawn when, as a matter of fact, it had occurred on the porch. Though this seems to be
an exaggerated effort to keep in line with perfect truth, it was characteristic of the young officer.

At VMI, Jackson
taught his classes with the same directness with which he thought and acted, and though he was severely criticized for his
manner, the superintendent and others saw his worth. He never wavered in his character, in his devoutness to church, in his
dependability, faith, and resolution. These qualities overshadowed any professorial deficiencies and set a mark that even
the young cadets recognized as the potential of greatness.

As he became a part of VMI, Jackson
also became a part of the community. He married in Lexington
and established in the town the only home he ever maintained.

It was in Lexington that Jackson selected his church affiliation and actively began the practice of his Christian
principles. He became a member of the Presbyterian Church and, later, a deacon in that church. He started a Negro Sunday School
which he taught himself-and if his pupils were not on time, they didn't get in. He took his duties seriously and conscientiously
tithed his money.

Two years before the Civil War, the cadets at VMI had an indication
of what was to come in the growing differences between North and South. Abolitionist John Brown, who had been captured after his raid on Harpers Ferry, had been found guilty
of conspiring to commit treason and had been sentenced to be hanged December 2, 1859. There was fear there might be another
uprising to aid his escape, and the aid of the VMI cadets was sought by the governor of Virginia.
Jackson moved a contingent of cadets to Harpers Ferry where
they helped to maintain order in the days before and following Brown's execution. Fifteen months later, Jackson
moved the entire cadet corps out of Lexington. War had come,
and he was never to return to VMI alive.

In early April 1861, the unrest among the people of the community provoked
several incidents, one of which resulted in one of Jackson's
rare public speeches.

One Saturday afternoon attempts were made to raise two flags in Lexington, one for secession and one for staying with the Union, and
among citizens assembled on the streets there was strong feeling. Being a free afternoon for cadets, many were in the town
and were thrown in contact with persons whose sentiments differed greatly from that of the VMI corps in general. Excitement
increased when an extremist drew a revolver and knife on a squad of cadets, and though the difficulty was quelled by onlookers
who intervened, word spread quickly to barracks that a group of cadets was in danger. At the barracks, the already aroused
cadets, with rifles in hand, began to run toward the town but were instantly headed off by the VMI superintendent who ordered
their return to the barracks. There the corps was assembled, and the superintendent urged Jackson
to speak to the cadets.

"Military men make short speeches," he said, "and as for myself I am
no hand at speaking anyhow. The time for war has not yet come, but it will come and that soon; and when it does come, my advice
is to draw the sword and throw away the scabbard."

With the final outbreak of hostilities between North and South, the
cadets were ordered to Richmond to serve as drill instructors
for Confederate recruits. Under Jackson's command, the cadets left VMI on April 21, 1861, and
in Richmond reported to Confederate headquarters at CampLee. There, Jackson
was commissioned a colonel in the Confederacy and, leaving the cadets at Camp Lee, moved on to active military service with
the Southern forces.

From this point, his military victories, his tactics, and his strategy
are history. From Manassas to Chancellorsville (where he was fatally wounded), Jackson, who had advanced to the rank of lieutenant general, was practically faultless. His
battles have been studied almost the world over, and his tactics have become text for many a soldier.

RecommendedReading:Stonewall Jackson: The Man, the Soldier, the Legend(Hardcover) (950 pages).Description:A distinguished Civil
War historian unravels the complex character of the Confederacy's greatest general. Drawing on previously untapped manuscript
sources, the author refutes such long-standing myths as Stonewall Jackson's obsessive eating of lemons and gives a three-dimensional
account of the profound religious faith frequently caricatured as grim Calvinism. Though the author capably covers the battles
that madeJacksona
legend--Sharpsburg,Fredericksburg, etc.--he emphasizes "the life story of an extraordinary man." The result
is a biography that will fascinate even those allergic to military history. Continued below...

The New York
Times Book Review, Stephen W. Sears . . . [T]wo dozen writers have attempted [Stonewall] biographies, and there are any number
of special studies, monographs and essays. Now going straight to the head of the class ofJacksonbiographers, and likely to remain there,
is James I. Robertson Jr. . . .Stonewall
Jackson: The Man, the Soldier, the Legendgives us far and
away the sharpest picture we have ever had of this enigmatic figure.

*VMI Cadets and the Battle of New Market

How many cadets fought in
the battle? Were any cadets killed or wounded?257 cadets took part in the battle; 10 cadets were killed in action or died
later as a result of wounds received; 57 cadets were wounded.

What kind of weapon did
a New Market cadet carry?Of the 257 VMI cadets participating in the battle, around 200 carried the Austrian Lorenz rifle;
the remainder carried the Model 1851 Cadet Springfield musket.

How old were the cadets
who fought at New Market?Although the ages ranged from
15 to 24, most cadets were between 17 and 21 years old-- that is, very similar in age to today's college students.

"Virginia Mourning Her Dead."

Sculpted by Moses Ezekiel

The VMI Corps of Cadets fought as a unit at the Battle of New Market on May 15, 1864

(Right) "Virginia Mourning Her Dead." This memorial to the cadets who fought at New Market was sculpted
by Moses Ezekiel, VMI Class of 1866 and a New Market veteran. Grave markers can be seen in the background near the monument's
base.

The “New Market Day Ceremony”
is an annual observance held at VMI in front of the monument "Virginia Mourning Her Dead", a memorial to the New Market Corps.
The names of all of the cadets in the Corps of 1864 are inscribed on the monument, and six of the ten cadets who died are
buried at this site. The ceremony features the roll call of the names of the cadets who lost their lives at New Market, a
custom that began in 1887. The name of each cadet who died is called, and a representative from the same company in today's
Corps answers, "Died on the Field of Honor, Sir."

Ten VMI cadets
were mortally wounded at the Battle of New Market on May 15, 1864. Five of the cadets --- William Henry Cabell, Charles Gay
Crockett, Henry Jenner Jones, William Hugh McDowell, and Jaqueline Beverly Stanard --- died on the battlefield. The sixth,
Thomas Garland Jefferson, died three days later in a private home. These six were buried in the LutheranChurch cemetery at New Market.

Four other cadets --- Samuel Francis
Atwill, Alva Curtis Hartsfield, Luther Cary Haynes, and Joseph Christopher Wheelwright --- died over the period of the next
six weeks as a result of the wounds received in battle. Wheelwright had been taken from the battlefield to the home of a doctor
in nearby Harrisonburg, where he died on June 2; Haynes died circa June 15 at the old Powhatan Hotel Hospital in Richmond;
Hartsfield died in a Petersburg hospital on June 26; Atwill; Atwill died on July 20 at the home of Dr. F. T. Stribling, in
Staunton.

Battle of New Market Map

(Click to Enlarge)

In the Spring of 1866 the
remains of Jones, McDowell, Jefferson, Wheelwright, and Atwill were reinterred at VMI. On May 7, 1866, a detail of four cadets,
all of them New Market veterans, set out to bring back the bodies of their classmates. On May 15, the second anniversary of
the battle, the bodies were escorted in a procession of the Corps of Cadets from the VMI hospital to the town's Presbyterian
Church where memorial services were held. Following the ceremony, the bodies were placed in a vault in the old Porter's Lodge
located near the Limit Gates. The remains were subsequently moved to the magazine, located on the bluff across the ravine
behind barracks; in 1878 to the newly created cadet cemetery, located in a wooded area which now is the northwest corner of
the parade ground; and in 1912 to their final graves under the statue "Virginia Mourning Her Dead." Although individual headstones
mark their graves, the remains are actually buried in a copper box set into the foundation of the monument. A sixth grave
--- that of Crockett --- was added in 1960. The four other cadets
who died at New Market are buried elsewhere. Cabell's grave is at HollywoodCemetery in Richmond;
Hartsfield is buried in an unmarked grave in Petersburg; Haynes is interred at his home "Sunny
Side" in EssexCounty; and Stanard at Orange, Virginia.

The participation of the VMI Cadet Corps in the battle of New
Market marks a moment when young people-- college students-- were called upon to accomplish an assignment of heroic proportions.
Called out of their classrooms on 11 May, the Corps marched 80 miles over four days (much of it in a soaking rain). On 15
May the Corps found itself in the center of the Confederate reserve line as General Breckinridge called for an infantry attack.
Fate as much as planning resulted in the VMI Cadets advancing across a field into the mouth of waiting Union artillery and
Infantry. The conduct of the cadets would determine the outcome of the struggle. The charge was a success and brought victory
to the Confederates.

Battle of New Market Battlefield Map

(Click to Enlarge)

In 1839 the Virginia
legislature approved replacing the guard company at the Lexington Arsenal with a military school. The school was intended
to provide a source of competent militia officers, engineers, and teachers. It proved to be the states greatest source of
officers in 1861; of sixty-four regiments raised that year, twenty-two were commanded by VMI graduates. Of 1,902 VMI matriculates
from 1839 to 1865, 1,781 served in the Confederate Army. In April 1861 the Corps of Cadets, 200 strong, performed training
duties in Richmond.

The school resumed "normal" operations
in January 1862 with 269 cadets. The corps was called out as reserve in April and May 1862 during Jackson's
McDowell Campaign and took to the field three times in 1863 to support resistance against Federal cavalry raids in southwest
Virginia. Following New Market, the corps was ordered to
Richmond, where it served briefly in the city's defenses.
It returned to Lexington in June to resist Hunter's advance,
but could do little to prevent the Federal burning of Institute facilities. The corps was furloughed from July to October,
when it was reassembled at Richmond where it served again
periodically in the city defenses. It was disbanded on 2 April 1865 on the eve of the evacuation of Richmond. The Institute reopened at Lexington
in October 1865.

(About) Video of General "Stonewall" Jackson earning his nom
de guerre at the First Battle of Bull Run.

(Source: VMI)

Recommended Viewing: Gods & Generals (2003) (219 minutes), starring Stephen Lang, Robert Duvall, Jeff Daniels,
Mark Aldrich, and George Allen. Description: The more you know about the Civil War, the more you'll appreciate Gods and Generals
and the painstaking attention to detail that Gettysburg writer-director Ronald F. Maxwell has invested in this academically
respectable 219-minute historical pageant. Continued below…

In adapting Jeffrey Shaara's 1996
novel (encompassing events of 1861-63, specifically the Virginian battles of Bull Run, Fredericksburg, and Chancellorsville),
Maxwell sacrifices depth for scope while focusing on the devoutly religious "Stonewall" Jackson (Stephen Lang), whose Confederate
campaigns endear him to Gen. Robert E. Lee (Robert Duvall, giving the film's most subtle performance). Battles are impeccably
recreated using 7,500 Civil War re-enactors and sanitized PG-13 violence, their authenticity compromised by tasteful discretion
and endless scenes of grandiloquent dialogue. Still, as the first part of a trilogy that ends with The Last Full Measure,
this is a superbly crafted, instantly essential film for Civil War study. For all its misguided priorities, Gods and Generals
is a noble effort, honoring faith and patriotism with the kind of reverence that has all but vanished from American film –
but provides abundant proof that historical accuracy is no guarantee of great storytelling. It is a sweeping epic charting
the early years of the Civil War and how campaigns unfolded from Manassas to the Battle of Fredericksburg, and this video was the prequel to the film Gettysburg, which explores the motivations of the combatants and examines
the lives of those who waited at home.

RecommendedReading:Young Lions: Confederate Cadets at War. Description:"In
making soldiers of them,"said Confederate president Jefferson Davis regarding
the mobilization of his nation’s youths,"we are grinding the seed corn."Yet, the bloody millstones of war ground them--and nowhere more noticeably than at
the Confederacy’s de facto "West Points." Thelegendof
the Southern cadets is one of "untrained boys wastefully flung in the path of Yankee armies as the Confederacy came to a turbulent
end." The reality, however, is one of highly trained young men who rendered valuable service from the earliest days of
the war and, when confronting the enemy on the battlefield, acquitted themselves as well as veteran troops did. Continued
below...

The Young Lions: Confederate Cadets
at War is the story of the Southern cadets at four major military colleges during the Civil War—theGeorgiaMilitary
Institute, theSouth CarolinaMilitaryAcademy (Columbia’s Arsenal campus and the Citadel inCharleston), theUniversityofAlabama, and the Virginia Military Institute. It is also the story of the Confederate
government’s lack of a cohesive policy toward military colleges and its failure to adequately support the institutions
that fostered its officer corps. This study is the first thorough examination of the interrelationships and common challenges
of the South’s major military colleges, giving a detailed history of these Southern institutions. James Lee Conrad discusses
the cadets’ day-to-day lives as well as the academic and military systems of the schools. From the opening of the Virginia
Military Institute in 1839, through the struggles of all the schools to remain open during the war, the death of Stonewall
Jackson, and the Pyrrhic victory of the Battle of New Market to the burning of theUniversityofAlabama, Conrad reveals the everyday heroism of cadets both on and off the battlefield.

Recommended Reading:The Stonewall Brigade,
by James I. Robertson (Author) (304 pages) (Louisiana State University Press).Description:Commanded by Thomas
J. Jackson and comprised of the 2nd, 4th, 5th, 27th and 33rd Virginia Infantry Regiments, plus the Rockbridge Artillery Battery,
the unit was officiallyVirginia's First Brigade. This changed forever at the Battle of First Manassas when in the
face of a seemingly overwhelming Federal attack, General Bee, an adjacent Confederate brigade commander, reportedly said,
"Yonder stands Jackson like a stone wall; let's go to his assistance. Rally behind the Virginians!" Continued below...

This
book describes the Stonewall Brigade in combat from first mustering to bitter end, when only 210 ragged and footsore soldiers
remained of the 6,000 that served through the war.Absolutely a must read for the Civil War buff!

Highly Recommended Reading: Valley Thunder: The Battle of New Market and the Opening of the Shenandoah Campaign, May 1864 (2010).
Description: Charles R. Knight's 'Valley Thunder' is the first full-length
account in more than three decades to examine the combat at New Market on May 15, 1864-the battle that opened the pivotal
1864 Shenandoah Valley Campaign. Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, who set in motion the wide-ranging operation to subjugate the
South in 1864, intended to attack the Confederacy on multiple fronts so it could no longer "take advantage of interior lines." Continued
below...

One of the keys to success in
the Eastern Theater was control of the Shenandoah Valley, a strategically important and agriculturally abundant region that
helped feed Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. Grant tasked Maj. Gen. Franz Sigel, a German immigrant with a
mixed fighting record, and a motley collection of units numbering some 10,000 men to clear the Valley and threaten Lee's left
flank. Opposing Sigel was John C. Breckinridge, a former vice president and now Confederate major general who assembled a
scratch command to repulse the invading Federals. Included within the ranks of his 4,500-man army were cadets from the Virginia
Military Institute under the direction of VMI Commandant of Cadets Lt. Col. Scott Ship, who had marched eighty miles in just
four days to fight Sigel. When the two armies faced off at New Market, Breckinridge boldly announced, "I shall advance on
him. We can attack and whip them here and we will do it!" As the general rode by the cadets he shouted, "Gentlemen, I trust
I will not need your services today; but if I do, I know you will do your duty." The sharp fighting seesawed back and forth
during a drenching rainstorm, and was not concluded until the cadets were dramatically inserted into the battle line to repulse
a Federal attack and launch one of their own. The Confederate victory drove Union forces from the Valley, but they would return,
reinforced and under new leadership, within a month. Before being repulsed, these Federals would march over the field at New
Market and capture Staunton, burn VMI in Lexington (partly in retaliation for the cadets' participation at New Market), and
very nearly capture Lynchburg. Operations in the Valley on a much larger scale that summer would permanently sweep the Confederates
from the "Bread Basket of the Confederacy." 'Valley Thunder: The Battle of New Market' is based upon years of primary research
and a firsthand appreciation of the battlefield terrain. Knight's balanced and objective approach includes a detailed examination
of the complex prelude leading up to the day of battle. His entertaining prose introduces a new generation of readers to a
wide array of soldiers, civilians, and politicians who found themselves swept up in one of the war's most gripping engagements.
About the Author: Charles R. Knight is a native of Richmond, Virginia. He is a former Historical
Interpreter at New Market Battlefield State Historical Park, and currently serves as the curator of the Douglas MacArthur
Memorial. Charlie has written articles for various Civil War and railroad publications, including Blue and Gray, Classic Trains,
and NRHS Bulletin. He lives in Norfolk, Virginia, with his wife and son.

RecommendedReading:Rebels from West Point: The 306U.S.MilitaryAcademyGraduates Who Fought for the Confederacy.
Description: "Rebels from West Point" tells the story of the 306 officers who, after receiving a West Point education and
swearing to uphold the values of the Union, defected to serve the Confederacy. Continued below…

The author examines this fascinating
group of officers, describing the heart-wrenching choice they made and how, even after they "went South," they remained connected
to the brotherhood of their formerWest Pointcadets. Among the more famous personalities
included in this group are Gen. Robert E. Lee, Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson, Gen. J. E. B. Stuart, Gen. A. P. Hill,
Gen. James Longstreet, and Gen. John B. Hood.

Recommended Reading: A Brotherhood Of Valor:
The Common Soldiers Of The Stonewall Brigade C.S.A. And The Iron Brigade U.S.A. Description: Confederate
General Thomas J. Jackson was arguably the greatest commander of the Civil War. Yet, "Stonewall" Jackson owed much of his
success to the troops who served under his command. He eagerly gave them their due: "You cannot praise these men of my brigade
too much; they have fought, marched, and endured more than I even thought they would." The Stonewall Brigade, composed mainly
of Virginians from the Shenandoah Valley, proved its mettle at First Manassas and never let up--even after its esteemed leader
was shot down at Chancellorsville. Their equally elite counterparts in the Army of the Potomac were known as the Iron Brigade,
hardy westerners drawn from Wisconsin, Indiana, and Michigan. By focusing on these two groups, historian Jeffry Wert retells
the story of the Civil War's eastern theater as it was experienced by these ordinary men from North and South. Continued below...

His
battle descriptions are riveting, especially when he coversAntietam:

Three
times the Georgians charged towards the guns, and three times they were repelled. Union infantry west of the battery ripped
apart the attacker's flank, and the artillerists unleashed more canister.... Finally, the Georgians could withstand the punishment
no longer, and as more Union infantry piled into the Cornfield, Hood's wrecked division retreated towards West Woods andDunkerChurch. When asked later where his command was, Hood replied, "Dead on the field."

But
the book is perhaps most notable for the way in which it describes the everyday hardships befalling each side. They often
lacked food, shoes, blankets, and other military necessities. When the war began, the men believed deeply in their conflicting
causes. Before it was over, writes Wert, "the war itself became their common enemy." Wert is slowly but surely gaining a reputation
as one of the finest popular historians writing about the Civil War; A Brotherhood of Valor will undoubtedly advance his claim.

RecommendedReading:The
Civil War: A Narrative, by Shelby Foote (3 Volumes Set) [BOX SET] (2960 pages) (9.2 pounds). Review:This
beautifully written trilogy of books on the American Civil War is not only a piece of first-rate history, but also a marvelous
work of literature. Shelby Foote brings a skilled novelist's narrative power to this great epic. Many know Foote for his prominent
role as a commentator on Ken Burns's PBS series about the Civil War. These three books, however, are his legacy. His southern
sympathies are apparent: the first volume opens by introducing Confederate President Jefferson Davis, rather than Abraham
Lincoln. But they hardly get in the way of the great story Foote tells. This hefty three volume set should be on the bookshelf
of any Civil War buff. --John Miller. Continued below.

Product Description:

Foote's comprehensive history
of the Civil War includes three compelling volumes:FortSumterto
Perryville,FredericksburgtoMeridian, and Red River toAppomattox. Collected together in a handsome boxed set, this is the perfect gift for any
Civil War buff.

FortSumterto Perryville

"Here, for a certainty,
is one of the great historical narratives of our century, a unique and brilliant achievement, one that must be firmly placed
in the ranks of the masters." —Van Allen Bradley,ChicagoDaily News

"Anyone who wants to relive
the Civil War, as thousands of Americans apparently do, will go through this volume with pleasure.... Years from now, Foote's
monumental narrative most likely will continue to be read and remembered as a classic of its kind." —New YorkHerald Tribune Book Review

FredericksburgtoMeridian

"This, then, is narrative
history—a kind of history that goes back to an older literary tradition.... The writing is superb...one of the historical
and literary achievements of our time." —TheWashingtonPost Book World

"Gettysburg...is described
with such meticulous attention to action, terrain, time, and the characters of the various commanders that I understand, at
last, what happened in that battle.... Mr. Foote has an acute sense of the relative importance of events and a novelist's
skill in directing the reader's attention to the men and the episodes that will influence the course of the whole war, without
omitting items which are of momentary interest. His organization of facts could hardly be bettered." —Atlantic

Red
River toAppomattox

"An unparalleled achievement,
an American Iliad, a unique work uniting the scholarship of the historian and the high readability of the first-class novelist."
—Walker Percy

"I have never read a better, more
vivid, more understandable account of the savage battling between Grant's and Lee's armies.... Foote stays with the human
strife and suffering, and unlike most Southern commentators, he does not take sides. In objectivity, in range, in mastery
of detail in beauty of language and feeling for the people involved, this work surpasses anything else on the subject....
It stands alongside the work of the best of them." —New Republic